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“My gift won’t let them read me,” Alex reminded her.

“That doesn’t matter—there’s sure to be a constant guard at Raelia by now.”

Kyia had a point. If Aven was smart—and, unfortunately, he was—he would definitely have people watching the only place where Alex could infiltrate his defences.

But… she never saidshewould be the one to retrieve thelaendrafrom the Silverwood.

“Promise me you won’t set foot in Raelia, Alex,” Kyia ordered in an unyielding tone. “Not without backup. Preferably an entire army.”

Alex hid a smile at the image of so many people pouring through the Library and out into the mushroom-circled clearing. “I promise, Kyia. I won’t go on my own.”

Kyia pursed her lips. “Your friends, as courageous as they are, don’t count as acceptable backup. Am I clear?”

Alex actually laughed. “Don’t worry, I hear you. I’d never put Jordan, Dix or Bear in that kind of danger anyway.”

“Jordan?” Kyia’s golden brow furrowed. “Isn’t he…?”

With everything that had happened, Alex had forgotten she hadn’t yet shared that Jordan was free. But just as she was about to explain, Zain stalked into the tent, his face like thunder.

“You,” he said, jabbing a finger towards Alex, “had better start talking. Right now.”

Alex had seen Zain angry before, both in the past and in the present, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed being on the receiving end of his wrath.

Fortunately, she was prepared. In the few days since she’d last seen her Meyarin friends, she had decided that, while Niyx had advised against it, she couldn’t keep the truth from Zain and Kyia. She certainly wouldn’t be tellingeveryone, but they needed to know, since they were close enough to notice she was different now. It was better to confess and enlist their help, rather than deceive them and risk losing their trust.

“You’d better sit down,” Alex said, stretching out her leg and grimacing at the pain. Thelaendrahad helped considerably, but she was far from healed.

Kyia noticed her wince and began wrapping a bandage around the wound, strapping it tightly.

“Seriously, sit,” Alex repeated when Zain didn’t move. “Because I’m going to tell you something that you’re going to have trouble believing. And I want your promise that you’ll hear me out before you decide I’m crazy.”

Six

Unsurprisingly, both Zain and KyiadidthinkAlex was crazy. The only thing in her favour was the fact that their memories of the past weren’t wiped entirely—they just remembered a blurred, forgotten face. That was how Lady Mystique’s memory modification had worked—keeping Alex there but also… not. To Kyia and Zain, she was an unidentifiable Meyarin of no importance, with not even the golden shimmer of hervaelianabond present in their minds.

What finally convinced them was her knowledge of them personally. The memories Alex shared—there was no way she could have known such things without experiencing them for herself. And that was ultimately what persuaded Zain and Kyia that she was telling the truth.

“This is unbelievable,” Kyia whispered, rubbing her temples. “I mean, I remember there was someone with us—I remember standing on that waterfall with Aven, Niyx, Roka and someone else… but no matter how much I try to visualise the memory, I can’t picture who it was.”

Alex offered an apologetic shrug. “Lady Mystique—Aes Daega—made it so you wouldn’t remember me. If you had, I might never have found my way back to the past, and our current timeline would have been all stuffed up.” She scrunched up her face. “It’s one of those weird time paradoxes. Cause and effect, and all that.”

Zain was just staring at her in shocked bewilderment. “That’s how you knew my name.”

Alex blinked at him. “Sorry?”

“I haven’t forgotten that storm and what happened atNarsae de Trigonwith that foul beast, Skraegon,” he said, his tone sour at the name of the Meyarin brute. “I’ve never been able to remember your face, but it always bothered me that someone knew who I was when, at the time, I was careful with whom I shared my identity.”

Alex laughed as she recalled the promise she’d made him that night. “You made me swear by the stars that one day I’d tell you how I knew your name.”

Zain grinned wolfishly at her, humour replacing his shock. “That I remember, too. I just had no idea you would make me wait thousands of years.”

Alex returned his grin. “I didn’t specify the timeframe.”

“I’ll have to make note of that for next time, you devious little human.” His amusement faded and his face turned pensive. “But I guess we’ll call it even, since I have a feeling you’re the reason Roka never stopped badgering me to join theZeltora.”

“I couldn’t have my favourite elite guard-slash-babysitter stay a criminal forever,” Alex said lightly. “I just gave Roka a little… nudge of encouragement.”

Zain chuckled, and both he and Alex turned back to Kyia who was still rubbing her temples.